I'm going to stop apologizing for updating slow, since it's going to keep on happening until I get back to the States, so bear with me. I had half of this chapter written but just got swamped ... when I realized that the fact that I'm too busy for anything won't be changing for another six weeks, I decided to just screw it all and finish it anyway. It's nearly 11 at night and I have to wake up at 6:30 for an overnight research trip. It's nothing too bad, just counting birds and measuring ocean salinity and pH, but they're keeping us crazy busy. I borrowed a backpack, sleeping bag, mat, etc, but I can't help but feel nervous.

There's too much to talk about in just a paragraph, so I'll just get on with the chapter and then go to bed hahah. I hope you guys are having a great time doing whatever you're doing. 3

. . . .

GEHENNA

. . . .

Rin's POV

. . . .

Rin was blankly stared at the far wall; his gaze blank, his face pale, his heart hammering in rhyme with his quickening breaths. A headache pulsed between his eyes and his stomach churned. For a brief moment, he thought that he would be sick and fell to his knees regardless of who saw. The room spun sideways.

And it was suddenly over.

Raziele was the first to speak. "The hell was that?" he murmured, his rosy eyes fastened on the dark world outside the window. Like Rin, the color had been leached from his face. He was like a spirit standing in the doorway, his usual humor gone.

Rin shakily got to his feet. He felt a bit lightheaded, as if the slightest breeze - or anything unexpected - could throw him off and knock him down. "It... It was - " he began, then cleared his voice. He couldn't sound weak. Refused to sound weak.

So he tried again. "It was Satan," Rin stated, his voice level despite his fluttering lungs.

Raziele turned to Rin and wore an uneasy expression; if Rin didn't know Raziele as well as he did, he would have missed it. "Is he going to attack?" Raziele whispered.

Rin's lips formed a hard line. "I don't know," he admitted, pushing past Raziele and sweeping into the hallway, "but it couldn't have been good."

His footsteps were echoed by Raziele, and there was a moment of silence. Then suddenly, "You're starting to act like a Prince."

Rin scowled. "I'm no prince," he mumbled unhappily, but Raziele was grinning.

"No, it's true," Raziele continued. "Some bets were being made to see if you would run away within the first couple of months."

"Oh?" This was the first time Rin had heard of this. "And how did you do?"

"I bet that you would stay and fight," Raziele stated. He was smirking now. "I obviously won."

Raziele's smile was contagious, and though Rin felt the slight tug of a hesitant grin on his own lips, his voice was quiet as he repeated:

"Obviously."

. . .

Okumura Rin, First Prince of Gehenna and Heir to the throne, looked down at his amassed army. At his right stood Raziele and Sophiel; at his left stood Astaroth, her gaze cold and calculating. Below, scores upon scores of demons stared up at the crude balcony, their expression hungry and full of bloodlust.

Rin couldn't help but be impressed, actually. The tremor from earlier hadn't broken the demons' spirits; instead, it bolstered them, made them stronger and more eager. It was a frightening thing.

And they're all mine. Rin's grip tightened on the rough stone railing as his eyes trailed over the mass of shouting, taunt, moving bodies. They all obey me . . . every last one of them.

It was an embowering and heated the blood. Each and every one of the demons below answered to him; after all, he had provided them shelter, meals, protection, and freedom from his biological father. They owed him a debt, one that many would pay with their lives. Rin couldn't say that he enjoyed bloodshed, but he had changed; sometimes, sacrifices were a necessity. War was not a game of rock-paper-scissors; in fact, war was not a game at all. It was a tragedy, one where lives were lost yet one where victory was fully and bitterly appreciated.

Rin was not playing a game. He was playing at war, and he wanted to win without wasting a life; sacrificing one, perhaps. But not wasting.

A spy of his, an acquaintance of Sophiel's from the slavery district, had learned that Satan had learned of Astaroth's betrayal and was now after Astaroth's life - but also Rin's. An army, and a large one at that, was now making its way across the barren land between Satan's realm and Rin's mountain, though some had been calling it "Hell's Haven". It was there where Rin wanted to bring the battle to; if Satan's army made it to the mountain's base, some of his own, some who could not fight, would be caught in the warfare.

He didn't want that. Rin's hand idly strayed through the thick scars that crisscrossed his back and up, towards the thin white lines that marred his face; he knew all too well how Satan treated his prisoners.

Voices from below - hoarse shouts, yells, and screams - echoed off of the rocky walls. Butterflies danced in Rin's stomach as he slowly raised his arm.

The noise in the cavern slowly faded away to silence as each and every demon standing below turned their heads towards him. Satisfied that he had their full attention, Rin cleared his throat and prayed that he would not stutter.

"Many of you came here to flee Satan," Rin began. "Many of you came for the promise of freedom, for the hope of a new life. Yet all of you standing before me came here to fight."

He paused to take a quick breath. "Satan oppressed us, brutalized us, tormented us. In that, we are all the same, and we all ran. But while I may have inherited the flames, the simple truth," Rin began, his voice a bit softer, "is that Satan is much more powerful than I, and Satan is very, very powerful. But!" he suddenly shouted. "But if we are marked to die by his hand, then let us fight like men who will live forever! Let us show Satan that power does not matter, that heritage is meaningless before our blade! Let us show Satan that his reign is over!" A cheer rose from the crowd. "Tonight, we will fight!" Rin shouted again, eliciting more while cries and whistles. "And tonight, we will win!"

The crowd was roaring now. Rin's hand was trembling slightly, but he clenched the railing all the tighter and hoped that nobody saw. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder; Rin didn't turn to see who it was, but he didn't need to.

"Think that was good enough?" Rin whispered to Raziele.

The hand slightly squeezed his shoulder. "You could have convinced Satan to throw himself on his own blade," Raziele replied, then added with a lower tone, "Maybe you could try that in the upcoming battle."

"You know you have to tell another speech, right?" Astaroth cut in. "Because, hate to break it to you, but we haven't actually reached the battle field yet."

. . . .

ASSAIH

. . . .

Bon and the others had their Goblin and, for the first time, they realized that it was beginning to work. The portal that was slowly sucking the Goblin back to Gehenna was beginning to widen. A wind whipped up in the classroom, and a sudden gale threw a chair against the wall.

"We have to stop!" Shima cried. "It's too much! It's going to -"

"No!" Bon shouted in reply. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "Not yet! Not when we're so close!"

Konekomaru made not a sound, only pumped more energy into the shield, as did Izumo. The Goblin wailed and scratched on the thin film, its eyes wide and protruding from its face as its body slowly began to disintegrate into a tiny black pin-sized hole in the ground. The hole was pitch black, and Bon's heart fluttered in his chest at the sight of it. He felt as if invisible hands were being stretched out from it, that long fingers were wrapping themselves around his throat. His breath hitched and his hands trembled.

We're so close, he thought, desperately. After all these months, they were almost there ... Bon tried to strengthen his will by picturing the look of Rin's face when they rescued him.

That idiot, Bon panted, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, better treat us all to dinner.

Suddenly the shield cracked.

Everything seemed to go silent as a thin line appeared over the semi-translucent shield. Bon felt neither the wind, nor anything at all for that matter; all that existed was that tiny crack that was beginning to widen and his own growing feeling of horror. Another crack appeared, and he vaguely heard Izumo scream that they couldn't keep this up. The crack split into two, then three, until it spider webbed across the thin membrane.

Shit.

Suddenly the door slammed open. Yukio was on the other side, but Bon didn't have time to wonder where he had come from when suddenly he shot the shield with a bullet. The added energy smoothed over the cracks.

"Y-Yukio!" Konekomaru exclaimed, his eyes wide. "How - "

"Anyone with half a brain can feel that much power," Yukio muttered. He was clearly in a foul mood as he suddenly pressed his hand against the membrane. The Goblin wailed, two-thirds of its body already gone. "When that Goblin disappeared, the shield will crack," he continued, voice strained and hurried. "As soon as it does, energy will explode from it ... only to be sucked back into the portal to Gehenna. All of us will be dragged with it."

Bon wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified. "You're coming to?!" he shouted over the wind.

Yukio pushed his glasses a little higher up the bridge of his nose. "Of course," he replied, his tone matter-of-fact as the Goblin further vanished. Despite its mouth being gone, Bon could still hear its cries as its body mass lowered and lowered until there was only a speck left.

"Get ready!" Yukio shouted.

There was a sudden bright light, and Bon heard a sound similar to a thousand ceramic plates shattering as the shield exploded. Then, with a sudden rush that made him want to vomit, the explosion morphed into an implosion. He slammed against the floor, knocked off balance, and completely lost all sense of coordination.

He felt a hand grab his collar, and heard a scream that sounded strangely like Shiemi's before everything went to hell.

Literally.

. . .

"It's started," Mephisto muttered under his breath.

Shura felt a headache coming on. "What's started? A war?" she answered herself, then asked, "What kind of war? Here?"

"No, in Gehenna," Mephisto replied. His expression was tight, his lips a taunt white line. "We don't have any more time."

Shura felt like screaming. "Why?! WHY don't we have any more time! What the hell are you talking about!"

Mephisto turned his glare to her, and she could see the violet slits of his eyes. For a moment, she saw him as he truly was ... a King of Gehenna, and suddenly her legs felt a bit weak. She locked them at their knees and refused to fall.

"I'm not sure," he finally spat. "I'm not in Gehenna. But, I can tell that the sheer amount of power emanating from the place can only come from Satan himself ... well, him or Rin," he amended. "Any demon could tell you that."

Shura felt cold all of a sudden. Satan and Rin? she mentally repeated. Are they fighting right now? In a battle?

"We don't have any more time," she mumbled, then grabbed Mephisto by the collar. He didn't even flinch as Shura brought him inches from her face. "We need to get there. Now."

But Mephisto only smirked. "Of course, your highness," he said, his tone sarcastic, before shouting, "Einse! Svai! Drei!" At 'drei', Shura heard Mephisto snap his fingers, then heard a roar of wind as the current world fell apart around them like a stained glass shattering into sharp fragments. Darkness replaced color, and she could hear Mephisto laughing somewhere far away.

Then she knew nothing more.

I am sooo tired... it's two days later since I last wrote the title (again), and I just got back from an overnight field camp. The town I'm living in is FLOODING. And guess who was doing a field survey while it basically rained sideways?! ME. Apparently my rain jacket wasn't actually waterproof, and I got slightly hypotheric in my fingers ... basically, they stopped worked and locked around my pencil, which I was using to write down individual gastropod tallies in the pouring rain. My heater is on to dry off my notebook, pants, jackets, shirts ... everything. T_T I'm so done with the world.

Ta ta for now,

Rand0m-not-so-Smil3z